Good food on the cheap
Discussion
Let me start off by saying I'm a completely hopeless chef. Chicken stir fry is about as adventurous as I get.
What I'm looking for are suggestions for meals that are cheap, easyish to make (I want to get better at cooking so am willing to try more difficult stuff) and nutritous, delicous would certainly help too.
Also meals where you can do something with the leftovers would be even better.
So to all the PH chefs, wow me with your recipies, hints and tips.
I'll give you feedback on how I get on.
P.s please assume I'm an absolute idiot when replying and provide detail accordingly, thanks
ETA: Healthier the better too.
What I'm looking for are suggestions for meals that are cheap, easyish to make (I want to get better at cooking so am willing to try more difficult stuff) and nutritous, delicous would certainly help too.
Also meals where you can do something with the leftovers would be even better.
So to all the PH chefs, wow me with your recipies, hints and tips.
I'll give you feedback on how I get on.
P.s please assume I'm an absolute idiot when replying and provide detail accordingly, thanks
ETA: Healthier the better too.
Edited by patmahe on Monday 1st September 13:39
k, whilst my belly pork and baked taters are cooking to perfection in the oven I've got some time to put together some thoughts on this.
Healthy and cheap food the spikeyhead way.
Eating healthily means thinking about everything you eat and getting a good balance though the day. Three meals as a minimum each day.
Breakfast.
Porridge, one cup of cheap oats, one cup of water, one cup of milk. Put in a bowl, four mins in a microwave. Leave to settle for a minute, stir and eat. Its that simple though sprinkle some sultanas on it if you watn to sweeten it. Wash it down with some fruit juice, Lidl sell 100% orange juice for about 70p a litre.
Lunch and dinner.
To keep it healthy then first look at the size of the palm of your hand. The aim is to keep portion size based on this size, a slab of protein this size, a slab of carbs this size and veg this size. If you're going to be doing lots of exercise then up the carbs by no more than 50%. For best veg, grow some, buy them from a market stall or farm shop but generally avoid supermarkets as most stuff has been stored for forever in an oxygen reduced atmosphere. To keep things healthy then a good variety is all you need to provide all your vits and minerals, keep the protein, carbs and veg in proportion and it will stay healthy.
Some lunch ideas.
Many people are limited to a sandwich at work and so long as you add some veg into it then its possible to keep things in proportion. If you've having a ham sandwich then add some tomato and lettuce into it. I'd far rather have a rice salad with peas, sweetcorn and some tuna for lunch, doesn't take much longer to prepare than a sandwich especially if you're cooking rice the previous evening for dinner. If you've got a microwave at work then have a baked tater, with a topping of your choice and a salad. Most supermarkets sell living salads, I've got a bowl with chives and lettuce growing on the kitchen windowsill that just needs watering regularly and for £2 has provided me with all the lettuce and chives I can eat this summer. The chives will provide again next year too, but I'll need to get some more lettuce. For protein portions for lunch there's plenty of choice. If you like them, pilchards are the cheapest and are very healthy, but there is also tuna, mackerel, cheese, ham and assorted other cold meats. If you've cooked some meat for dinner then save some for a sandwich the next day.
For dinner have a look through the curry thread on here, make sure there's veg in the form of onions, peppers, tomatos etc in there and you've got a good balanced meal. Have a go and you'll soon get the hang of cooking a good curry.
Other cheap meals include belly pork and corned beef hash but these are both high in saturated fat. Mix them with veg and eat occasionally and it won't be a real health issue. There's plenty of recipes on the net for these.
Hope that helps to set you off in the right direction, cooking the basics is easy, just takes some practice and thinking before you start about how long each part is going to take to cook so you can get them all done at the same time.
Good luck and if in doubt, ask some specific questions, otherwise someone is going to have to writ ea complete book in order to fully answer your question.
Healthy and cheap food the spikeyhead way.
Eating healthily means thinking about everything you eat and getting a good balance though the day. Three meals as a minimum each day.
Breakfast.
Porridge, one cup of cheap oats, one cup of water, one cup of milk. Put in a bowl, four mins in a microwave. Leave to settle for a minute, stir and eat. Its that simple though sprinkle some sultanas on it if you watn to sweeten it. Wash it down with some fruit juice, Lidl sell 100% orange juice for about 70p a litre.
Lunch and dinner.
To keep it healthy then first look at the size of the palm of your hand. The aim is to keep portion size based on this size, a slab of protein this size, a slab of carbs this size and veg this size. If you're going to be doing lots of exercise then up the carbs by no more than 50%. For best veg, grow some, buy them from a market stall or farm shop but generally avoid supermarkets as most stuff has been stored for forever in an oxygen reduced atmosphere. To keep things healthy then a good variety is all you need to provide all your vits and minerals, keep the protein, carbs and veg in proportion and it will stay healthy.
Some lunch ideas.
Many people are limited to a sandwich at work and so long as you add some veg into it then its possible to keep things in proportion. If you've having a ham sandwich then add some tomato and lettuce into it. I'd far rather have a rice salad with peas, sweetcorn and some tuna for lunch, doesn't take much longer to prepare than a sandwich especially if you're cooking rice the previous evening for dinner. If you've got a microwave at work then have a baked tater, with a topping of your choice and a salad. Most supermarkets sell living salads, I've got a bowl with chives and lettuce growing on the kitchen windowsill that just needs watering regularly and for £2 has provided me with all the lettuce and chives I can eat this summer. The chives will provide again next year too, but I'll need to get some more lettuce. For protein portions for lunch there's plenty of choice. If you like them, pilchards are the cheapest and are very healthy, but there is also tuna, mackerel, cheese, ham and assorted other cold meats. If you've cooked some meat for dinner then save some for a sandwich the next day.
For dinner have a look through the curry thread on here, make sure there's veg in the form of onions, peppers, tomatos etc in there and you've got a good balanced meal. Have a go and you'll soon get the hang of cooking a good curry.
Other cheap meals include belly pork and corned beef hash but these are both high in saturated fat. Mix them with veg and eat occasionally and it won't be a real health issue. There's plenty of recipes on the net for these.
Hope that helps to set you off in the right direction, cooking the basics is easy, just takes some practice and thinking before you start about how long each part is going to take to cook so you can get them all done at the same time.
Good luck and if in doubt, ask some specific questions, otherwise someone is going to have to writ ea complete book in order to fully answer your question.
As posted on the "Friday Night Food" thread. As mentioned by Spikeyhead, the balance is important hence the salad - about half the volume of the serving of pasta.
Bob the Planner said:
Tonight went for a cheap but filling meal before going back to the pub :hic: 20 mins or so to make ....
For 2
6 oz cooking bacon
splash olive oil
8 oz cellentani (but any pasta will do)
2 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp thyme
6 basil leaves
4-6 fl oz double cream
4 oz cheese (parmesan or cheddar or anything else you have in the fridge !)
2 good pinches of ground black pepper
Cook the bacon in the olive oil until crisp at the edges. Remove from the pan and put in a bowl.
Add the cellentani, garlic and thyme to the pan and add boiling water. Boil rapidly for 8-10 minutes until the pasta is almost cooked. Add the basil torn into small bits, cream, cheese and black pepper and stir until you have a thickish sauce.
Serve with a salad of tomato, cucumber, capsicum and lettuce dressed with olive oil and ground black pepper.
Right - off the the pub
...
Another favourite of mine is grilled pork chop, boiled potatoes, carrots and green beans. I steam the carrots and beans on top of the potatoes so 1 grill, 1 pan and a steamer to wash up ! Simple, quick and tasty. For 2
6 oz cooking bacon
splash olive oil
8 oz cellentani (but any pasta will do)
2 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp thyme
6 basil leaves
4-6 fl oz double cream
4 oz cheese (parmesan or cheddar or anything else you have in the fridge !)
2 good pinches of ground black pepper
Cook the bacon in the olive oil until crisp at the edges. Remove from the pan and put in a bowl.
Add the cellentani, garlic and thyme to the pan and add boiling water. Boil rapidly for 8-10 minutes until the pasta is almost cooked. Add the basil torn into small bits, cream, cheese and black pepper and stir until you have a thickish sauce.
Serve with a salad of tomato, cucumber, capsicum and lettuce dressed with olive oil and ground black pepper.
Right - off the the pub
...Quick favourite of mine is spaghetti carbonara...
For 2 people (and hungry people at that) -
8 rashers of bacon, cut into smallish pieces
1 onion, diced
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
3 tbsp cream
3 eggs
spaghetti - enough that when you hold it the diameter is the same as a 10p piece
Cook spaghetti. Fry bacon and onion until onion is soft. Mix together cream, eggs and cheese. Drain spaghetti, but leave over a low heat. Add bacon & onion and mix into spaghetti. Pour over cream/egg/cheese mixture and stir through for a few seconds.
Tip unceremoniously onto 2 plates.
Time needed? As long as it takes you to chop an onion and cook spaghetti
Tasty?
Nutritious? Mostly... the cheese is fairly high fat and the cream isn't ideal but you wouldn't eat it every day so IMO it's no problem
For 2 people (and hungry people at that) -
8 rashers of bacon, cut into smallish pieces
1 onion, diced
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
3 tbsp cream
3 eggs
spaghetti - enough that when you hold it the diameter is the same as a 10p piece
Cook spaghetti. Fry bacon and onion until onion is soft. Mix together cream, eggs and cheese. Drain spaghetti, but leave over a low heat. Add bacon & onion and mix into spaghetti. Pour over cream/egg/cheese mixture and stir through for a few seconds.
Tip unceremoniously onto 2 plates.
Time needed? As long as it takes you to chop an onion and cook spaghetti
Tasty?
Nutritious? Mostly... the cheese is fairly high fat and the cream isn't ideal but you wouldn't eat it every day so IMO it's no problem
Edited by parapaul on Tuesday 2nd September 05:45
If you're not a big cook, everything will take longer (and you probably won't have a lot in your store cupboard) than when you get more practice, so my advice would be to use some part-prepared ingredients to make things easier. A lot of decent after-work cooking (unless you're Bob the Planner) is just assembly of good ingredients rather than skill.
One of the things I do is over-cater when I'm doing things like sausages or bacon or chicken. Then they can be chopped up and put in a rice pilaff or pasta sauce (Seeds of Change in a jar is great if you're short of time) for another night.
Rice pilaff. Equal quantities of long grain rice and water, a little bit of stock powder (Marigold vegetable bouillon) or the corner off a stock cube, a small onion chopped and fried, a bit of chopped up red or green pepper and any other veg you fancy. Fling in your cooked meat, put in the oven for about 40 mins at 190C. If you do enough, you can add some green salad and have the leftovers as a packed lunch.
Creme Fraiche is a brilliant standby. It will make an easy sauce with mushrooms and brandy/bit of grain mustard/reduced white wine/sauteed leeks if you are having pork or steak or chicken. Saute your mushrooms or leeks, add seasoning and alcohol (if using), big spoon of creme fraiche and heat it through (don't boil it though).
Risottos are easy to make; they have a reputation for being hard work but it's just stirring really. It's just rice, flavour (mushrooms, stock, chicken, ham and peas - google is your friend), water and wine. Get everything around you, put something you like on the radio, grab a wooden spoon and 25 mins later you've got yummy dinner.
Salad to go on the side of everything. Easy peasy.
Lunches: Sandwiches (I make my own bread but you can get decent non-pap stuff). Pasta or rice leftovers, bit of meat, salad, or shred a tin of crab with some chilli flakes and the zest and juice of a lemon or lime. Ploughman's lunch - hunk of bread or oatcakes or ryvitas or whatever you fancy, pickled onions, slice of ham, portion of cheese, bit of chutney, salad. Tinned chickpeas or lentils with some strong-flavours (crispy fried bacon left to go cold and crumbled, feta, sundried tomatoes, chopped antipasta anchovies, chorizo, chopped spring onions - not all together though)
Will that keep you going for a bit?
One of the things I do is over-cater when I'm doing things like sausages or bacon or chicken. Then they can be chopped up and put in a rice pilaff or pasta sauce (Seeds of Change in a jar is great if you're short of time) for another night.
Rice pilaff. Equal quantities of long grain rice and water, a little bit of stock powder (Marigold vegetable bouillon) or the corner off a stock cube, a small onion chopped and fried, a bit of chopped up red or green pepper and any other veg you fancy. Fling in your cooked meat, put in the oven for about 40 mins at 190C. If you do enough, you can add some green salad and have the leftovers as a packed lunch.
Creme Fraiche is a brilliant standby. It will make an easy sauce with mushrooms and brandy/bit of grain mustard/reduced white wine/sauteed leeks if you are having pork or steak or chicken. Saute your mushrooms or leeks, add seasoning and alcohol (if using), big spoon of creme fraiche and heat it through (don't boil it though).
Risottos are easy to make; they have a reputation for being hard work but it's just stirring really. It's just rice, flavour (mushrooms, stock, chicken, ham and peas - google is your friend), water and wine. Get everything around you, put something you like on the radio, grab a wooden spoon and 25 mins later you've got yummy dinner.
Salad to go on the side of everything. Easy peasy.
Lunches: Sandwiches (I make my own bread but you can get decent non-pap stuff). Pasta or rice leftovers, bit of meat, salad, or shred a tin of crab with some chilli flakes and the zest and juice of a lemon or lime. Ploughman's lunch - hunk of bread or oatcakes or ryvitas or whatever you fancy, pickled onions, slice of ham, portion of cheese, bit of chutney, salad. Tinned chickpeas or lentils with some strong-flavours (crispy fried bacon left to go cold and crumbled, feta, sundried tomatoes, chopped antipasta anchovies, chorizo, chopped spring onions - not all together though)
Will that keep you going for a bit?
A cheapy favourite of mine:
Pollo alla cacciatora (for 2 with leftovers)
Chicken thighs (about £3 a pack)
2 x 400g tinned toms (80p)
1 x tin anchovy in oil (80p)
1 x small tin black olives (80p)
1 x bottle italian red (£4 cheapo stuff is fine)
Flour for dusting
Garlic cloves
Bay leaf
Salt
Pepper
Bash a couple of garlic cloves, put in a bowl with the chicken and bayleaf. Cover with about half the wine and leave in the fridge for a minumum of 2 hours.
After some time, remove the chicken from the wine and reserve it for later.
Pat the chicken dry with kitchen towel and dust in well seasoned flour.
Fry chicken until it starts to brown in a big saucepan (do it in batches if required)
Once all is browned, chop the garlic from the red wine mix finely and fry with the anchovy fillets for about 2 minutes in the pan, then dump all the chicken in, add the 2 tins of tomatoes and the red wine mix.
Cook in the oven with a lid on the pan for about 1.5 hours at 160ish degrees.
Add the drained black olives about one hour into cooking.
Once cooked, the chicken will fall away from the bones very easily. If not, leave it in longer.
Serve in a bowl with a ciabatta loaf to mop up the sauce.
Any leftover sauce can be eaten simply with pasta the following night or used in a bolognese.
Enjoy
Pollo alla cacciatora (for 2 with leftovers)
Chicken thighs (about £3 a pack)
2 x 400g tinned toms (80p)
1 x tin anchovy in oil (80p)
1 x small tin black olives (80p)
1 x bottle italian red (£4 cheapo stuff is fine)
Flour for dusting
Garlic cloves
Bay leaf
Salt
Pepper
Bash a couple of garlic cloves, put in a bowl with the chicken and bayleaf. Cover with about half the wine and leave in the fridge for a minumum of 2 hours.
After some time, remove the chicken from the wine and reserve it for later.
Pat the chicken dry with kitchen towel and dust in well seasoned flour.
Fry chicken until it starts to brown in a big saucepan (do it in batches if required)
Once all is browned, chop the garlic from the red wine mix finely and fry with the anchovy fillets for about 2 minutes in the pan, then dump all the chicken in, add the 2 tins of tomatoes and the red wine mix.
Cook in the oven with a lid on the pan for about 1.5 hours at 160ish degrees.
Add the drained black olives about one hour into cooking.
Once cooked, the chicken will fall away from the bones very easily. If not, leave it in longer.
Serve in a bowl with a ciabatta loaf to mop up the sauce.
Any leftover sauce can be eaten simply with pasta the following night or used in a bolognese.
Enjoy
Edited by dougc on Wednesday 3rd September 16:38
Tasty, idiotproof and quick recipe that I enjoy usually once a week.
Sweet Chilli Prawn and Chorizo risotto.
Pot of Prawns, the quality and quantity of which is your choice.
Small tub or glug of sweet chilli sauce (I swear by the little pots you get in Asda...)
Spring Onions (bunch of...)
Chorizo (quantity down to preference, I go mad)
Microwave rice
Tin of good quality chopped or cherry tomatoes (drained)
Put 2 bags of rice in the microwave.
Dab of oil in a pan. Sliced chorizo and sliced spring onions in. Prawns in. Tomatoes in. Sweet chilli sauce in. Chuck the cooked rice in. Salt. Pepper. Stir. Done (Although I let it gently cook for about 10 mins as it tastes better)
Sweet Chilli Prawn and Chorizo risotto.
Pot of Prawns, the quality and quantity of which is your choice.
Small tub or glug of sweet chilli sauce (I swear by the little pots you get in Asda...)
Spring Onions (bunch of...)
Chorizo (quantity down to preference, I go mad)
Microwave rice
Tin of good quality chopped or cherry tomatoes (drained)
Put 2 bags of rice in the microwave.
Dab of oil in a pan. Sliced chorizo and sliced spring onions in. Prawns in. Tomatoes in. Sweet chilli sauce in. Chuck the cooked rice in. Salt. Pepper. Stir. Done (Although I let it gently cook for about 10 mins as it tastes better)
Easy pasta bake:
Chop a red onion into wedges
Chop a red pepper into chucks
Put in an oven proof dish and toss with oil.
Season well.
Put some decent butchers sausages on the top of the veg.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 180.
Add some chopped tomatoes (fresh, not tinned)
Bake for a further 20 minutes or until sausages are done.
In the meantime, boil up some dried pasta.
Once the sausages are done add the pasta to the dish and mix in.
Cover with grated cheese and bake until it browns
Make as much or as little as you like - reheat as you like for lunch at work the next day.
Chop a red onion into wedges
Chop a red pepper into chucks
Put in an oven proof dish and toss with oil.
Season well.
Put some decent butchers sausages on the top of the veg.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 180.
Add some chopped tomatoes (fresh, not tinned)
Bake for a further 20 minutes or until sausages are done.
In the meantime, boil up some dried pasta.
Once the sausages are done add the pasta to the dish and mix in.
Cover with grated cheese and bake until it browns
Make as much or as little as you like - reheat as you like for lunch at work the next day.
Rude Girl said:
.... A lot of decent after-work cooking (unless you're Bob the Planner) is just assembly of good ingredients rather than skill. ...
Thanks for the compliment I do eat a lot of leftovers - cook once, often at the weekend, then eat for the next 3 days varying the carbs and veg, filling in with a few quick and easy assemblies such as the one below or chops etc.
The past two weeks I have been working nights and the diet has gone to pot. Sweets, fizzy drinks, meat butties and breakfast at the hotel. I'm looking forward to some veg and a good piece of fish ! On which point -
Salmon steak
Broccoli cut into florets
Potatoes
Lemon slices
A bit of salad
Heat grill to medium hot. Boil potatoes for about 10 minutes in a covered saucepan, add broccoli and then place the salmon under the grill. Turn the salmon after a few minutes. When everything is cooked put on a plate with the salad and place a slice of lemon on the salmon. Sprinkle with black pepper if liked.
Edited by Bob the Planner on Wednesday 3rd September 22:12
Pork in orange sauce and mash.
Pork chop fried in a medium heat, at the last minute add a large spoon of marmalade and turn the heat down a bit. Keep stirring for 5 minutes so the marmalade doesn't burn. Serve with mash (if you're feeling adventurous then stir in some spring onion into the mash)
Red onion and goats cheese tarts.
Buy some ready made roll out puff pastry, cut out a circle (around a dinner plate) and then score another circle within (don't cut all the way through the pastry).
Fry up some red onions and place these within the smaller circle on the pastry srop chunks of goats cheese on the top and bake in the oven (see your puff pastry box for times and temperatures).
Serve on it's on or with sausages.
Pork chop fried in a medium heat, at the last minute add a large spoon of marmalade and turn the heat down a bit. Keep stirring for 5 minutes so the marmalade doesn't burn. Serve with mash (if you're feeling adventurous then stir in some spring onion into the mash)
Red onion and goats cheese tarts.
Buy some ready made roll out puff pastry, cut out a circle (around a dinner plate) and then score another circle within (don't cut all the way through the pastry).
Fry up some red onions and place these within the smaller circle on the pastry srop chunks of goats cheese on the top and bake in the oven (see your puff pastry box for times and temperatures).
Serve on it's on or with sausages.
Fresh tuna steak
In a pestle and mortar, grind up a good pinch of sea salt and a peppercorn
Add into the mortar a good mound of coriander seeds and grind up roughly
wash the tuna steak in olive oil and coat each side in the coriander seed-satl-peppercorn to make a crust
In a hot frying pan put a little olive oil and fry tuna for about 2-3mins each side
Place tuna to rest
Serve with wilted spinach with a sprinkle of nutmeg
And mashed, buttered sweet potato
Drink a good white burgundy
In a pestle and mortar, grind up a good pinch of sea salt and a peppercorn
Add into the mortar a good mound of coriander seeds and grind up roughly
wash the tuna steak in olive oil and coat each side in the coriander seed-satl-peppercorn to make a crust
In a hot frying pan put a little olive oil and fry tuna for about 2-3mins each side
Place tuna to rest
Serve with wilted spinach with a sprinkle of nutmeg
And mashed, buttered sweet potato
Drink a good white burgundy
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